ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

Media Release:It’s time to STAND UP! with Murray Porter

(Capilano Rez, North Vancouver, B.C.) In the spirit of righteous grass roots action, “STAND UP!”, Murray Porter’s third feature album was made with honest musical labour, community loyalty and undying passions from this Bluesman’s own heart.

JUNO winner for `Aboriginal Album of the Year’ in 2012 with Songs Lived and Life Played, this Mohawk Turtle Clan, Six Nations born and bred, Vancouver based singer songwriter, releases his latest album, an eleven track sonic offering of versatility, empowering lyrics and well crafted songs. Produced and recorded in the traditional Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam peoples’ territories, Porter’s adopted home with manager, partner and lyrical collaborator Elaine Bomberry.

“STAND UP!” is a perfect title for this album and for these times. Stand Up references the verb based language of his people and when you hear the anthemic song `No More’ you too will rise to your feet and pump a righteous fist in the air. The track captures the unified resistance energies of this generations “Idle No More” movement and Murray is right there lending his support by way of musical inspiration for and from the front lines. His lyrics resound with encouraging calls to action and imparts a storyteller’s wisdom. Love is at the core of Porter’s musical movement. Love of the land, the people, and the very culture of his Haudenosaunee identity. He celebrates romantic love too as found in the track `Love Will Find A Way’. Bomberry’s lyrics are married perfectly with Murray’s effortless piano flow. Love Will Find a Way is a beacon for those consumed with new love and those discovering newness in old love.

I wish the radio programmers luck in trying to relegate this album into one specific category. Murray Porter has more than paid his dues throughout his career and earned the right to blend genres into one album. `Mom’, a track appealing to the country music fan and `Stay Gone’ sure to be embraced by die-hard blues fans, featuring some killer horns are able to live in complete harmony on this album. For those old romantics looking for new validation Porter has penned the ballad `Two Hearts & One Soul’. This is not a musical identity crisis but new sounds from one seasoned musician of versatility and his mastery of every genre.

“STAND UP!” is a stand up release with a stellar band consisting of Helene Duguay on bass, Michel Bruyere on drums, and Rick Boulter on guitar and lending his expertise on the production dials. This album will quickly be known as one of Murray Porter’s greatest legacies existing within the same vein as “1492, Who Found Who” and “Songs Lived & Life Played”. He’s done it again! And we once again reap the benefits, as we’ve done in the past. > Written by Janet Marie Rogers

“STAND UP!” will be released on all digital music platforms on Tuesday, February 26th, and celebrated at The Talking Stick Festival’s show ‘Guilty Grooves’ with the Murray Porter Band, and Blue Moon Marquee at Guilt & Co, 1 Alexander St., Vancouver. Music from 9 pm til late. PWYC. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Review from John Kane, 'Let's Talk Native' - WBAI 99.5 FM in New York City (Listen live-on-line at www.wbai.org)

In his first CD since his award winning "Songs Lived And Life Played", Murray has stayed true to his music and his mission.

"Stand Up" opens with rock rather than blues with "The Water" and "No More." "The Water" is an aggressive scolding to water offenders and tribute to water protectors. "No More" not only suggests the ominous threat of a people who will be Idle No More, but opens with our most powerful tools for broadcasting resistance and calls to action, our Drums!

Murray gifts us with his bluesy voice and plucky piano as we expect with the sounds and talent that define him but he also remains an activist with a piano. He defends our water and calls us to action with those opening tracks; he remains our conscience for our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women with "Highway 16" , and offers hope to those struggling with depression and thoughts of suicide with "Don't Let Go."

It's too early to tell how we will rank this CD among a body of work that music fans and indigenous activists have come to love, but it may just be his best work!

John Kane - Host of "Let's Talk Native…"John Kane is a Mohawk Warrior who hosts radio shows, podcasts and YouTube video shows in New York City and from the Cattaraugus Territory of the Seneca Nation._____________________________________________________________________________________________________

B I O :MURRAY PORTER – JUNO Award Winner Soulful Blues Piano Man

Blues Man Murray Porter’s music career has taken him all over the world for the last 40 years. He’s a proud Mohawk man from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in southern Ontario, who now lives on Squamish Nation territory in North Vancouver, British Columbia.

Murray may have a blues soul to the core, but he also grew up on rock and roll, R & B and country music. Porter’s first CD since his 2012 JUNO Award for ‘Aboriginal Album of the Year’ is titled, “STAND UP!” and reflects these early musical influences. He strongly feels that this next album is some of his best music to date.

His new music is a little bit of protest songs, a little bit of love songs, and a little bit of fun songs. Murray’s well respected in both the Indigenous and Blues music communities. His voice is as smooth as a velvet growl.

Plus, in true Murray Porter fashion, he has some tongue-in-cheek songs and heartfelt songs about Love: 'Please Stay Gone'; 'Some Day I'll Never Learn'; 'Two Hearts One Soul'; 'Love Will Find a Way'.

Whether he is playing an intimate venue for local blues fans, as a solo, duo, trio or with his four-piece band, or on a festival stage to thousands of music aficionados, Porter’s love of performing comes across clear and strong. He has been compared to Dr. John, Joe Cocker and even Elton John! Robbie Robertson has called Porter “a master bluesman.” He captivates audiences wherever he performs and makes new fans…and they never leave his show disappointed.

➢ As a Solo he’s performed at: National Indigenous Day (Vancouver); McGill University Indigenous Awareness Week, Montreal; several Indigenous corporate, organizational and private events from Gitwanga, B.C. to Six Nations, Ont.

Over the Years: Murray has opened concerts for many Artists including the late B.B. King, the late Etta James, The Neville Brothers, Ricky Skaggs, Marcia Ball, and performed with Sam `Soul Man’ Moore (twice), The Funk Brothers (twice)…and shared the stage with Pura Fe, Derek Miller, and The Carolina Chocolate Drops (Rhiannon Giddens) to name a few amazingly talented musicians.